In Brazil, indigenous people have used it for thousands of years to enhance health and vitality.

The acai berry is known for its deeply purple colour as well as for being a source of many antioxidant vitamins and minerals. This, is benefit number 1.

Reason to use number 2 is for its strong heart health benefits. It contains the same rich source of natural compounds thought to give red wine its health benefits but acai contains much greater quantities of these healthy substances without the risks associated with alcohol.

Benefit # 3 is that acai berries are also a rich source of protein, dietary fibre and essential fatty acids, shown to help lower cholesterol levels in the blood.

Whether just for taste and pleasure or its amazing health benefits — be sure to try this incredible fruit. You won’t regret it.

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Steps to Better Bone Density

Diet & Supplementation

Women are at higher risk of OP especially post menopause, but preventative steps must be taken very early in life. It is never too early to start taking preventative steps. Diet is absolutely vital for general health, fertility and healthy strong bones. Research shows that junk food and carbonated drinks, especially soft drinks are a primary cause of osteoporosis with its beginning in teenage years. A healthy, clean diet is essential for bone health.

The single most important step to take is to start including good sources of nutrients into your diet, particularly calcium before 30 years of age. Oily fish, dairy and vegetables like kale and broccoli are excellent natural sources of calcium, as are tahini and sardines (with bones). Most people would also benefit from a taking a calcium supplement to ensure strong bones as a preventative approach. The recommended dosage is at least 1,000 milligrams (mg) of elemental calcium and a minimum of 1000 international units (IU) of vitamin D every day for pre and peri-menopausal women. The dose often increases post menopause.

Exercise

While making sure your body is getting a healthy dose of calcium, it is crucial that this calcium is being utilized by the body and absorbed by the bones. Vitamin D aids the deposition of calcium, adding specific exercises to your routine will also help. It is very important to include closed chain exercises (walking, jogging, squats, lunges and push ups) in addition to free weights like dumbbells and resistance bands. Closed chain exercises are where the body is in direct contact with the ground, and usually the body weight itself serves as resistance for the workout. These moves are most effective for building bone density and strength.

Detoxification

Combining the above two with a regular cleansing routine will help eliminate toxins that deplete vital nutrients and bring down energy levels. A good bowel cleanse once or twice a year will really give you a great health boost! Sweating is also a great natural way to get rid of those toxins. So, next time try exercising with a lot of clothes on so you sweat a little more than usual. Regular visits to the sauna, drinking hot tea and eating spicy food (cayenne pepper) will also cause sweating. When you do this, also be sure to replenish with plenty of fresh water!

To prevent osteoporosis, it is best to include a combination of diet, natural remedies and exercise. Starting this regimen at a young age and continue into adulthood — this is the most effective way to keep bones strong and healthy throughout life.

If your skin is breaking out, you’ve got acne prone skin or your just want a nice face detox I’ve got a fabulous face mask solution!

It’s really simple, go to your health food store and get yourself some green French clay. Most health food stores stock it or can order it in for you otherwise you can just buy it online. Green clay is full of lovely skin friendly minerals and it helps to drain toxins, healing the skin whilst reducing redness and the size of pimples without leaving scars.

Here’s what you need to do:

Get one teaspoon of green French clay, place it in a small bowl. Add 1-2 teaspoons of filtered water, combine the two until you create a paste. You could also add 1-2 drops of 100% pure essential oil of geranium or lavender if you wish as they are very soothing and antibacterial for the skin.

Mix it through well and apply a reasonably thick coat of the paste to your skin. Leave it on for about 15-20 until it dries up almost completely and then wash it off. Repeat it often for amazing looking skin!

So are you ready?

• 1 small ripe banana
• ½ cup of blueberries
• ½ cup plain rolled oats
• ½ cup of low salt, low fat cottage cheese
• ½ to 1 cup of water (this depends on how thick you like your smoothie)
• 2 tablespoons of liquid fish oil, you could use cod liver oil but pregnant women need to be careful of using too much cod liver because of the high vitamin A content.
• 1 tsp of honey to taste

Blend it all well and there you go. A fabulous fibre rich breakfast that will make you glow from inside out!

Magnesium helps to balance blood sugar levels, reducing cravings. The other excellent reason and perhaps most important is that chocolate cravings are a sign of magnesium deficiency. So if you are craving, start supplementing.

Tip 2 — Eat Every 3 Hours

Maintaining your blood sugar levels balanced by consuming good quality, high protein meals frequently is ideal if you are craving chocolate. Do this and your chocolate cravings will die off literally overnight.

Finally Tip 3 and It’s Is Very Interesting… It is Exercise!

We all know exercise is great for weight loss but research conducted in the US shows that a 15 minute walk daily dramatically helped a group of active chocoholics crave much less when compared with the couch potato group. So get your running shoes on and start walking those cravings away!

After all the holiday overindulgence most of us are left with some extra kilos to shed and many people are looking for tips on doing an easy and healthy detox. It’s simple. If you want to give your body a little break and lose a few kilos in the process—let me give 3 tips to get you on your way.

Tip #1 — Cut out ALL junk food

And I do mean all. The best way to give your body a break and detox is to do it by simply cutting out all processed foods and drinks including fruit juices, soft drinks and particularly alcohol. At the same time make sure you limit your meals to steamed, baked or raw vegetables for one to two weeks—seasoned only with a little garlic, salt and good quality olive oil. This is the best and most gentle way to detoxify quickly and effectively.

Tip #2 — Drink plenty of water

This is an obvious one, but most people don’t do it and when you are trying to detox, drinking plenty of water is an essential part of the process. In order to ensure your detox is a good one—plenty of filtered or bottle water is vital, otherwise you will be putting extra toxins into your body instead of letting go of them. Remember, boiling water only really kills bacteria your body can handle anyway, whilst it concentrates the toxins remaining in the water. This is why drinking filtered water is so necessary. Be sure to have at least 2L daily.

Tip #3 — Use herbal teas to aid in the detoxification process

Dandelion, St Mary’s Thistle, Lemon Balm, Ginger, Fennel, Fenugreek are just some of the great herb varieties you can buy in dried or fresh form from the health food store to make your own detoxifying teas. Add several cups of your favourite teas daily along with tips 1 and 2 and you will be well on your way to a healthy detox with extra weight loss benefits. Just don’t forget the physical activity which is an essential cornerstone of a great detox.

Stay Healthy!

Eating too quickly or too much is likely to cause indigestion; symptoms are varied and can include:

• Burping or gas;
• Heartburn and reflux (which when chronic can even lead to a constantly sore throat);
• Flatulence and pressure or discomfort in the abdomen
• Mild nausea (sometimes accompanied by vomiting);
• Discomfort on swallowing
• Food intolerances (e.g. lactose, gluten etc)
• Constipation or diarrhoea
• Loss of appetite

Soothing uncomplicated cases of indigestion can be as simple as applying these easy tips:

• Eat small meals every 3 hours or so;
• De-stress and be sure to eat in a relaxing environment;
• After eating, avoid excessive physical activity and wait 2-3 hours before lying down or sleeping;
• Wear loose clothing around the waist and abdomen;
• Avoiding the following (possible) gastric irritants may work for you: garlic, raw onions, spicy foods, chili, acidic (citrus) foods like oranges, grapefruit, tomatoes as well as fried and fatty foods;
• Avoid drinking (even water) around food times as this will dilute your own gastric juices and worsen digestion;
• Avoid caffeinated beverages such as coffee, tea, soft drinks and chocolate;
• Avoid all alcohol;

In addition, the following are my favourite remedies for dealing with indigestion:

• Add ginger to you foods;
• Eat bitter greens with lemon juice dressing before your main meal — this helps to activate your gastric juices and improve digestion;
• Drink peppermint tea about 30 minutes after eating — other useful teas may include: ginger, chamomile, lemon balm

Digestive enzymes and good gut bacteria (acidophilus) can be ideal for helping to balance digestive function.

Seek the advice of a competent and qualified naturopath if your symptoms persist after diligently applying this advice. A comprehensive medical assessment may also be required.

Today I’ve got 3 tips to soothe the overindulgence.

Tip 1 — Drink Plenty Of Water

Be sure to drink at least 3L of water daily. This will do 2 things.

• it will keep you relatively full and stop you from eating so much.
• it will keep you well hydrated which decreases the feelings of a hangover.

Tip 2 — Have A Hearty Protein Breakfast In The Morning

2 poached or soft boiled eggs on toast will do the trick. This helps to balance your blood sugar levels and helps to reduce cravings and your appetite decreasing the likelihood of super overindulging.

Tip 3 — Take Some Nux vomica

Nux vomica is the world famous “hangover” remedy. And it is also useful for restoring balance when a person has over-indulged with food as well. The perfect remedy for the festive season. Just go to a health food store or see a homoeopathic practitioner and get yourself some Nux vomica.

The connection between alcohol consumption and impaired reproductive function has been accepted for a few years now. However, studies are now revealing a similar pattern with low to moderate alcohol consumption as well, with one study suggesting that even one glass of alcohol can decrease fertility by 50%! Additional research shows the probability of conception in women and fertility in men also decreases proportionately as alcohol consumption increases. So how exactly does alcohol affect fertility?

The menstrual cycle in women is a result of a series of well-coordinated events — organs produce hormones, which then stimulate the ovaries to produce and release eggs and also prepare the uterus for pregnancy. Now, what alcohol does is — it directly interferes with this sequence that regulates ovulation and menses. As a result, it causes conditions such as amenorrhea (absence of menses), anovulation (lack of ovulation), luteal phase dysfunction and (abnormal development of the endometrial lining). Not only does alcohol increase the risk of infertility, it also causes spontaneous abortion, and impaired fetal growth and development.

While there are many differences between men and women, there are many basic similarities in physiological processes that ensure good reproductive health. So, drinking definitely affects male fertility as well. Alcohol consumption affects hormone production in men just like in women, and may also cause impotence. Alcohol is toxic to the delicate sperm producing cells, which may be destroyed completely over time. Alcoholism is also associated with increased estrogen levels in men. This automatically decreases sperm production and may even contribute to prostate cancer in older males.

In addition to directly affecting hormone production, alcohol also limits the body’s capacity to absorb and process nutrients such as antioxidants, zinc and selenium — all essential for reproductive function. The body requires these important nutrients for sperm production, estrogen and progesterone balance and synthesis of genetic material. As a result it becomes quite apparent how impaired nutrient levels resulting from alcohol consumption during the preconception preparation period (120 days prior to a conception attempt) and during pregnancy and lactation may initially lead to fertility problems and eventually to poor health outcomes for you and your baby.

The news is not all bad, though — the upside is that the harmful effects of alcohol can be reversed just by abstaining from alcohol — ideally for the 120 days it takes to form healthy sperm and mature a healthy egg as well as throughout conception attempts, pregnancy and lactation. This is the surest way to optimize your natural fertility for a lively, natural conception and/or dramatically increase your odds of a healthy pregnancy through IVF (if necessary).

For more information on how to maximize your chances of a healthy natural conception or increase your odds through IVF (if required) see Eat Your Way To Parenthood: The Diet Secrets of Highly Fertile Couples Revealed (Goko Publishing 2008)

So here are 5 easy ways to have a better night’s sleep:

• Create a sleep conducive environment that is dark, quite, clean, preferably cool and comfortable. This is necessary to reap the restorative, energizing and revitalising benefits of sleep.
• Avoid sugar, chocolate, dessert and anything sweet at night — Sugar will make you hyper and keep you awake. Also it will cause your blood sugar levels to drop during the night and it will wake you up and disturb the quality of your sleep. So the best thing to eat before bed is good quality protein like an egg or a piece of fish, chicken and meat with vegetables to balance your blood sugar levels and sleep quality.
• Relax your mind before going to bed — Have a notebook and a pen on your bed side table and just before you go to bed do a mind dump on paper. Right down all the thigns you need to do the next day, the things are worrying you, your shopping and to do list for the next day. It should all go down on paper so you don’t have to remember it and have a disturbed night’s sleep as a result.
• Reduce or avoid as many drugs as possible — Many medications, both prescription and over-the-counter may have effects on sleep. Even multi-vitamins and B complex vitamins for some people taken after midday can cause sleepless nights. In most cases, the condition, which caused the drugs to be taken in the first place, can be addressed naturally and this can be discussed with your naturopath or health care practitioner.
• Check your bedroom for electro-magnetic fields (EMFs) — These can disrupt the pineal gland and the production of melatonin and seratonin, and may have other negative effects as well. Often getting all electrical appliances away from the bedroom fixes this problem. If this is not practical be sure to unplug your appliances from the wall before bed. This includes waterbeds and electric blankets.

Start tonight today for a better night’s sleep!